Boggabri Coal Mine operator Idemitsu proposes $513 million extension plan to keep mine open to 2039

The open-cut coal mine, which has been in operation since 2006, is scheduled to shut down in 2033.

The Japanese fossil fuel company revealed plans to extend the mine's life for another six years, by digging deeper underground, this week.

The company asked the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for a modification of their development approval to carry out the plan.

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Planning documents reveal that the extension of the mine would allow the company to extract an additional 61.6 million tonnes of coal.

The company will employ an additional 80 people and pay about $8 million in extra wages, if the project is approved. The mine currently employs about 500 full time equivalent employees.

The expanded project will have "minimal impacts" on groundwater resources in the immediate area, the planning documents say.

"The incremental impacts of MOD 8 on the surrounding water sources relative to approved mining at Boggabri Coal Mine, are minimal, while cumulative impacts are fundamentally equivalent to those for already approved mining activities," he said.

The company already mines to about 180m deep.

Idemitsu is also seeking approval of a plan to build a "fauna movement crossing" over an existing mine road, to give animals a bridge from the Leard State Forest to the Southern Rehabilitation Area.

Boggabri Coal Mine currently produces up to 8.6 million tonnes of coal per annum.

The proposed amended development approval will be on public display until September 9.

The coal mine briefly closed amidst a coronavirus scare last week. A worker, who had initially tested positive for coronavirus, tested negative on the second occasion.

Idemitsu's proposal follows expansion by fellow coal miner Whitehaven coal.

Whitehaven won approval to extend the approved but unbuilt Vickery Coal Mine last year. The project is expected to be worth $607 million in direct capital investment, and up to 450 jobs.

A spokesperson for Idemitsu said the modification would keep the mine within its currently approval mining area, minimising environmental impacts.

"This project has an economic benefit worth over half a billion dollars and will recover 61.6 million additional tonnes of coal, and will not increase the average annual coal production tonnage from the mine," he said.

"The project forecasts demand at economically sustainable prices throughout the proposed life of mine out to 2039."

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